Seeing double? Don’t worry, you’re just in Twinsburg, Ohio

If you walk through Twinsburg, Ohio, this weekend and start seeing double, don’t panic — it’s just the Twins Days Festival.

For more than half a century, the small town about 25 miles from Cleveland has welcomed twins, triplets and even quadruples, in a celebration recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest annual gathering of twins in the world.

Each year more than 2,000 sets of registered twins and multiples hit town, and there’s always a theme to get the party started. This year, the festival is throwing it back to a time of leg warmers and boomboxes with its “Totally Two-bular!” 80s-themed celebration from Friday to Sunday.

Jaquada and Laquala Royal, the 44-year-old queens of the “Twins Days Royal Court” — comprised of five sets of twins crowned to preside over the festival — will both attend as music icon Tina Turner, whose 80s megahits include “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and “Typical Male.”

“I can’t wait to do the legend, the icon Tina Turner. I impersonate her all the time, so I am so happy that I could give homage to a queen,” Jaquada told The Independent, adding that she and her sister grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, listening to the star.

This will be the identical twin sisters’ 23rd year attending the Twins Days Festival, since their first outing at the age of 18.

One of Laquala’s favorite themes was last year’s “Cheers to 50 Years,” where twins picked costumes based on themes from past events. Laquala and her sister celebrated all things Seventies.

“We had our afros, our bell bottoms, and everything,” she told The Independent.

Laquala said one of the best parts about the festival was mingling with other attendees. “There’s not a twin that we really don’t know,” she added.

“There’s no place like it,” Jaquada said. “It’s my Disneyland on Earth. It’s magical.”

All ages are welcome at the festival in Twinsburg, named after Aaron and Moses Wilcox, the identical twin brothers who bought the land in the early 1800s. Attendees range from newborns to those in their 80s, with organizers noting that many kids return every year as it is one of their favorite traditions.

In 2011, eight-week-old twins won awards for being the youngest at the festival, and two 96-year-old sisters won prizes for being the oldest, according to Patch, a network of local news sites.

Twins have travelled from as far away as Spain, Japan, Iceland, Syria, Africa and Sweden to attend the festival, CBC reported in 2022.

“I read about it maybe 20 years ago when I was on vacation in Australia. And then I talked to my twin sister Anno and we decided after we’ve been thinking about it many times and decided that this year [we would attend] because we turned 40,” Ulrika Carlstedt Jönsson, of Stockholm, told the broadcaster.

In 1990, a delegation of nine sets of twins from the then-Soviet Union attended the 15th Twins Days Festival, according to United Press International. A total of roughly 3,000 sets of twins attended that year.

“For all of you, it is a very good tradition. But for our twins, it is the first time ever that Russian twins take place in such a competition,” Marina Parushnikova, the owner of a Moscow modeling agency and sponsor of the delegation, told festival attendees, per UPI. “Thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful country,” she added.

The Twins Days Festival started as a community event in 1976 as part of America’s bicentennial celebrations that year.

It became an annual tradition, slowly growing into the massive event it is today. Just 38 sets of twins attended the second Twins Days Festival. Over the past 50 festivals, more than 91,000 sets of twins and multiples have joined the fun.

This year’s event begins Friday with a “Welcome Hot Dog Roast & Raffle.” Saturday will open with the classic “Double Take” parade followed by a day of talent showcases, group photo sessions, live entertainment and a fireworks display in the evening.

The next day will kick off with the Twins Days 5K Run and Fun Walk. Proceeds go to the nonprofit Empower Sports, which provides athletic programs for children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities.

The Royal Court will preside over the festival and participate in several major events, including a crowning ceremony Friday and the parade. They will also be available for photo ops and greet attendees.

Laquala and Jaquada Royal will be the first minority twins on the Royal Court in the festival’s 51-year history. Jaquada said while she is happy to represent people like her on the court, the festival looks beyond differences.

“Society outside of Twinsburg, people want to talk about race, religion. Here, we don’t talk about any of that. We just celebrate being multiple sets,” she said.

The twins were born in Youngstown, Ohio, in December 1981. Jaquada is three minutes older.

Laquala recalled the moment she and her sister realized they were twins while in kindergarten. “We used to literally sit there and hold each other’s faces, and that’s how we found out we were twins because it was like she had my face, I had her face,” Laquala said.

The two have been inseparable since birth. “All my firsts have been with her,” Laquala said.

“She’s always the first person I call for anything,” Laquala added. ”She’s a second mother to my children.”

The sisters each have one girl and three boys, including their own sets of twins. Laquala has identical 12-year-old twin boys, and Jaquada has 19-year-old boy-girl twins. Laquala and Jaquada’s older brother also has twins.

Jaquada calls Laquala her best friend, a title she said she has never given to anyone else.

“She’s always reliable,” Jaquada said of her sister, adding that she is “the loyalest person” she’s ever known.

Twins Days Festival is not just about celebrating the uniqueness of twins and multiples, but about giving back to the community.

Aside from the donations to Cleveland-based Empower Sports, event organizers also help provide a $1,000 research grant, two $1,000 college scholarships for graduating twins and two $500 college scholarships for Twinsburg High School seniors.